India vs West Indies: Jadeja defends decision to rest Rohit and Kohli, says visitors 'not worried about one loss'

Senior India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja came to head coach Rahul Dravid’s defence over the team’s decision to rest skipper and Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the second ODI against West Indies, a move that ultimately backfired for them. Speaking to reporters on the eve of ODI series decider against the Windies in Tarouba, Trinidad and Tobago, Jadeja said that India only had this series for experimenting with their lineups and trying out new players for different roles with coach Dravid and skipper Rohit having already decided on the combination for the Asia Cup. “This is the series before Asia Cup and World Cup, where we can experiment, we can try out new combinations. Once we will go to play Asia Cup and World Cup, we won’t be able to do experiment anything. It’s a good thing that we will get the idea about what is team’s balance, strengths and weaknesses,” Jadeja said. With big events such as the Asia Cup and the ICC World Cup drawing near — the latter set to begin in a little over two months’ time in India — the Men in Blue have limited opportunities to get their ODI combination right and as such have resorted to tinkering with their lineup in the ongoing series, which reaches its conclusion on Tuesday. The Men in Blue had drafted Sanju Samson and Axar Patel into the XI for the second ODI after resting Rohit and Kohli , with vice-captain Hardik Pandya filling in as the skipper. India ended up getting bowled out for 181 despite a 90-run opening partnership between Ishan Kishan (55) and Shubman Gill (34). Samson and Pandya were dismissed for scores of 9 and 7 respectively while Suryakumar Yadav was the next-highest scorer with a 25-ball 24. Also Read | Sanju Samson trolled on social media after forgettable outing in 2nd ODI Windies skipper Shai Hope then setup a six-wicket victory for his side with an unbeaten 63, stitching an unbroken 91-run partnership with Keacy Carty and building on a 53-run opening partnership provided by Kyle Mayers and Brandon King. Jadeja, however, insisted the visitors were not too worried about the defeat in the second one-dayer, echoing the sentiment shared by Dravid . “We were not disappointed with the loss. We are trying different combinations. We can try different batsman at different positon. This is the series where we can afford to chop and change. We are not worried about one loss, we are trying to get best out of our players,” Jadeja added. The two sides lock horns in the series decider at the Brian Lara Cricket Ground in Tarouba, which is set to host its maiden ODI and has hosted only two T20Is till date — both featuring India and having taken place last year. After the ODIs, West Indies and India will play five T20Is, with the last two matches taking place in Lauderhill, Florida.